"The State of Israel ... will ensure complete equality of social and political
rights of all its inhabitants irrespective of religion ... it will guarantee freedom
of religion and conscience." - May 1948)

Israel Religion & State Index 2017

65% of the Jewish Israeli public supports granting equal official status to the three largest streams of world Jewry. A majority supports the involvement of Diaspora Jewry in promoting freedom of religion and equality in Israel. 65% of the Jewish Israeli public believes that the Nation-State Bill should anchor the guarantee of freedom of religion and conscience in law.

Jewish Diaspora leaders concerned for the future of the Jewish people and concerned with strengthening Israel as a Jewish and democratic state must partner with Israeli organizations working in this field to bring about the necessary change: Full freedom of religion and conscience and total equality, regardless of religious identity.

The Israeli public opposes the government policies on issues of religion and state, and there is no basis whatsoever for the pretentiousness that the Israeli government represents the will of the people or the public interest. The public wants freedom of religion, pluralism and equality of civic burden for all.

Streams of Judaism, pluralism, and Diaspora Jewry

A number of the political battles over the past year have heightened the challenge of religious pluralism and Israel-Diaspora relations. Contrary to the baseless statements made by some of government leaders who seek to discredit the non-Orthodox Jewish streams and the principles of religious pluralism, most of the public supports this. 65% of the Israeli Jewish public believes that Israel should grant equal status to the three major streams of Judaism - Orthodox, Conservative and Reform. Among secular Jews, 92% agree.

The public is increasingly aware of the wide gap between its desire for freedom of religion and equality and its government's policies, which do not recognize these liberties nor care about the violation of human dignity involved. This explains in part the growing cynicism of Israelis about the political system and is a major reason behind the majority support for the involvement of Diaspora Jewry in supporting and promoting freedom of religion and equality in Israel.

55% of the Jewish Israeli public supports Diaspora engagement in advancing religious freedom and equality in Israel, including 52% of Likud voters, 73% of Kulanu, and 76% of Yisrael Beiteinu voters. As expected, most of the voters for the Orthodox parties, which aim to perpetuate the existing religious coercion and inequality, oppose this.

11% of the Jewish Israeli public responded to the question: “With which of the streams in Judaism do you associate yourself?” that they associate themselves as Reform (6%) or Conservative (5%), a greater percentage than those that associate themselves as ultra-Orthodox (9%). Altogether, 29% associate themselves with Orthodoxy; 9% - ultra-Orthodox, 18% - Zionist Orthodox and 2% - Zionist ultra-Orthodox. 59% do not identify themselves with any Jewish stream.

87% of parents of children in the 'non-religious' public school system want the Jewish educational approach and resources to be presented pluralistically with the full range of religious approaches, including secular, religious: Orthodox, and religious: non-Orthodox. This position is also shared by 59% of the parents of children in the 'religious' public education system!

The great majority supports religious freedom

The public believes that the tension between secular and ultra-Orthodox Jews is either the most severe societal tension in Israel or the second most severe. 70% of Jewish Israelis believe this tension is the most severe or second most severe tension in Israeli society. 69% of Jewish Israelis believe the tension between the political right and the political left is the most severe or second most severe. The remaining societal tensions (between rich and poor - 20%; between Jews of Western and Eastern origins - 17%] are far behind in their severity in the eyes of the public.

As in previous years, 84% of the adult Jewish public expressed its agreement that Israel should uphold freedom of religion and conscience. What is notable this year is the continued increase in the degree of support for separation of religion and state. In the current Index, 68% expressed support for separation of religion and state, an increase of 5% from the 2016 Index. Support for the separation of religion and state has risen by 13% since 2010. It would seem that as the political pressure increases for legislation, government policies, and budget allocations - so the public's support for the separation of religion and state grows.

In recent years, the Nation-State Bill initiative has been brought back to the fore in the Knesset. 65% of the Jewish Israeli public holds that the nation-state bill should anchor the guarantee of freedom of religion and conscience in law. 79% of secular Israeli Jews expressed their support for this, as did a large majority of the 'traditional - not so religious' public (67%), the 'traditional - close to religion' public (62%), and even 39% of the Zionist Orthodox public.

There is also strong support among voters for the civil Government Coalition parties, including: 69% of Likud, 63% of Yisrael Beiteinu, 54% of Kulanu, and 56% of Jewish Home party voters. Among voters for the opposition parties, support is particularly high: 89% of Zionist Union, 85% of Yesh Atid, and 85% of Meretz voters expressed their support for inclusion of religious freedom in the debated bill.

About the Index

This is the ninth time that Hiddush's prestigious Israel Religion and State Index has been published, in cooperation with the popular Ynet news portal. It was conducted by the Rafi Smith Research Institute as a telephone opinion survey among an exceptionally large sample of 800 people (representing the adult Jewish Israeli population) on July 19-23, 2017.

The Index is the most comprehensive annual public opinion survey on matters of religion and state in Israel. It is intended to enable systematic monitoring of changes in public opinion on these matters. This report details some of the main Index findings. The Index is made possible by the generous support of the Bergman Family Foundation, as well as the JFNA IREP project, which supports surveying the area of freedom of marriage in Israel.

An invitation to Diaspora Jewish leadership

The public's criticisms of Israeli governmental policies are increasing, which will likely impact the next Knesset elections.

The Index reveals that the government's policies are not only in flagrant contradiction to the Israeli public's will, but they also constitute a growing threat to the future of the Israel-Diaspora relationship and the unity of the Jewish people. Therefore, all Diaspora Jewish leaders concerned for the future of the Jewish people and with strengthening Israel as a Jewish and democratic state must work together and partner with Israeli organizations working in this field to bring the necessary change: to finally fully implement the Israeli Declaration of Independence's promise of freedom of religion and conscience with full equality for all, regardless of religious identity.

The Index findings clearly and sharply present the gap between the public's will and the government's policies on issues of religion and state, even including the positions of voters for the Government Coalition parties. The public's criticisms and frustrations are increasing, and it seeks constitutional protection and partnership with Diaspora Jewry in the struggle to promote religious freedom and equality in Israel, against politicians who violate human rights and human dignity by selling off religious freedom and equality for political spoils. This trend must be reversed. The Index also includes a hint that, come the next Knesset elections, the public is likely to favor parties that are committed to standing in the trenches and defending religious freedom and equality in Israel.

The Israeli public is not satisfied with and does not believe the Government

78% of the public is dissatisfied with the government's actions in the realm of religion and state. This is a small decrease of 3%, compared with the 2016 index, in which 81% expressed dissatisfaction, but it can be understood given the composition of the Government Coalition and the current government's policies. The ultra-Orthodox public's satisfaction increased from 39% to 48% and the Zionist Orthodox public's satisfaction increase from 41% to 56%. The underlying reasons behind these increases in satisfaction among these two groups is cause for concern. Over 90% of the secular public is dissatisfied with the government's policy. The high rate of dissatisfaction in Israel is due to the fact that all sectors are dissatisfied, some because they sense an urgent need to strengthen religious freedom in Israel, and some because they feel that Israel is not sufficiently ruled by religious Torah law.

Part of the religion-state battle takes place in the halls of the Supreme Court, which has become by necessity and political reality the source of remedy to protect individual freedoms, the rule of law, and religious freedom. The Index question regarding the degree of the public's trust in the relevant institutions (Government, Knesset, Chief Rabbinate, Rabbinical Courts, and Supreme Court) reveals the pretentiousness and aggressiveness of Israel's politicians in undermining the authority of Israel's independent judiciary. Among these institutions, the Supreme Court enjoys the highest level of trust (39%), while the rest enjoy embarrassingly low levels of trust (4%-9%)

The anger and public opposition to the government's policies on matters of religion and state, and the protest against the perpetual capitulation to the dictates of the ultra-Orthodox parties, are reflected in an increasing hope that a political party will arise, which will commit itself to promoting freedom of religion and equality of civic burden. 67% of Zionist Union, 72% of Yesh Atid, 72% of Yisrael Beiteinu, and 74% of Meretz voters say that an existing political party's declaration of commitment to the principles of freedom of religion and equality of burden would increase the probability of their voting for it in the next Knesset elections.

Opposition to the conversion bill

One of the most prominent examples of recent opposition to the government's actions is the broad public opposition to the government's succumbing to the demands of the ultra-Orthodox parties in promoting the Conversion Bill. The proposed bill harms not only the recognition of non-Orthodox Jewish conversions, but also the conversions of the more lenient, independent Orthodox courts. 73% of the Jewish public opposes the conversion bill! (including 73% of Likud voters and 67% of Jewish Home party voters).

Additional sample findings

Freedom of marriage for all: 67% of Israeli Jews support Israel's recognition of all forms of marriage. 50% would prefer non-Orthodox marriages for themselves or their children, outside the auspices of the Chief Rabbinate.

Kashrut certification outside the auspices of the Chief Rabbinate: 80% support the opening of the kashrut certification market to competition, with the State serving as supervisor, and doing away with the Chief Rabbinate’s monopoly.

Free movement on Shabbat: 73% support the operation of public transportation on the Sabbath, in full or on a partial basis.

Service should be mandatory: 83% believe that all yeshiva students should be required to serve in military or perform national service.

Less for yeshivas: After the government's yeshiva budget reached an all-time, historic high, 80% think it should be canceled or drastically cut.

Core Curriculum: 82% believe that ultra-Orthodox schools should be obligated to teach core curricular studies. 72% believe that the way to enforce this is by denying funding to those that refuse to comply.

A place for women too: 79% support that the Parties’ Law should be amended to require all parties to include women in realistic positions on their lists of Knesset candidates. This is an increase of 28% in support from last year.